She Kept Me Up All Night
by MoonyAddict
Summary: Late night conversations with Nymphadora were never boring and surely enticing. Late night flirtings with Nymphadora, on the other hand, were all another story. [RemusTonks]
1. h 2,00 am: The Meeting

So, this is going to be a 5-chapter fic, and each chapter will describe one of the five hours of conversation Remus and Tonks have one day, in the dead of the night (oh, yes, love makes you do this, be warned!) before duty.

Enjoy!

* * *

_h 2.00 a.m. - The Meeting_

Yawning for the millionth time in an hour, Remus poured himself some scotch and gulped it all in a go. Insomnia was one of the things he disliked most in life, along with idiots, traitors and white chocolate.

He shot a glance through the darkness at the cuckoo clock standing between the door and the counter. It read two o'clock in the morning. He had just started pondering the possibility of making some relaxing tea, when he heard a noise coming from the hall, followed by a series of thumps and a low cursing he happened to know quite well.

He poured another glass of scotch while listening carefully. It was only mere seconds later that a messy tangle of pink hair entered the kitchen, yawning broadly, arms stretched above her head,

"Good morning, Nymphadora." He greeted, raising the glass like in a toast.

"'Mmmorning, Remus." She murmured, absentmindedly running a hand through her hair. It took her a second to register his presence; she stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at him as her jaw dropped in the middle of another yawn.

"Remus!" Her eyes widened, although sleepily, as she gaped at him inquiringly. "Shouldn't you be sleeping by now? We're on for patrol in a few hours."

"Correct. This said, shouldn't you be sleeping as well?"

"Can't." she mumbled, taking a glass from the cupboard and going to the sink to fill it. "Mad-Eye offered me a drop of his Firewhisky Special Brew, after dinner, and Merlin knows how I regret drinking it."

"Ah, I understand."

"Do you?"

"Alastor offered me some, once," he said, after emptying the remnants of the scotch into his mouth. "Ten years ago or so, that is. Sirius and I got tremendously drunk after the first three sips. After a massive hangover in the morning, we swore to ourselves that never again we would accept anything from Alastor. Not even sweets."

"Couldn't you have warned me or something?" she cried, draining her second glass of water.

Remus grinned sheepishly, or so he hoped it would look.

"Direct experience is the best way to learn."

"Bollocks!" Tonks snapped, swaying lightly as she groped toward the closest chair, where she sank exhaustedly, then rested her head on the table, arms hanging loosely on her sides. "Now I'll have to hate you for not having saved me, and you know how bloody tiring it is."

"Do I?"

Tonks groaned in what Remus supposed was meant to be dignified disdain and brought her hands over her head.

"I want to sleep."

"Well, same here, as a matter of fact."

Suddenly resuming a light dose of lucidity, Tonks sat up straight and addressed him a drowsy gaze.

"Why are you up, by the way?" she asked.

Remus shrugged and pulled out the chair from the side adjacent to hers.

"I just can't seem to get any sleep. I've rolled in bed for an hour before I decided I was only wasting my time." He sat down and joined his hands over the table. "Perhaps it's because it's almost full moon."

"I didn't know it had an exciting influence." She said, interested.

"It doesn't." he said. "Not over sleep, at least."

He caught a glimpse of Tonks' ice grey eyes shimmering in the dark.

"What else could it-?" He gave her a half, cheeky grin, and he was sure she blushed. "Oh."

"Obviously, the subject becomes more sensitive towards this kind of side effects if there's something potentially arousing round him." He let his glance fall on her tank top and shorts. "Sometimes it's hard – even a bit embarrassing, you see – to pretend not to feel a certain instinctive feral disquiet."

It took Tonks a moment or two to process what he'd said. She looked down at herself and covered her décolleté with both her hands.

"I'm so sorry!" she squeaked, desolated. "I hadn't realised, otherwise I would have never-" The words faded on her lips as she noticed his eyes were laughing. "You naughty, evil, bloody git!"

"I feel a bit uncomfortable with being addressed so nicely and not having the pleasure to see your face in the meantime. If you don't mind…" He took out his wand and lit up a couple of candles on the counter, which floated to the table and settled right in the centre. "Why, I think it's better, now."

Through the softly enlightened darkness, Tonks was observing him with an impish smile.

"Lovely." She said, folding her arms over the table, and contemplated him for a while. "Very…"

"Romantic?" he offered, interpreting her hesitation as an invitation to be teased. Tonks, however, chuckled smugly.

"I was rather going to say something like kind, or generous, or anything that would sound thankful for not blinding me with an explosion of light."

"Is it that bad?"

She rubbed her forehead between her hands.

"You wouldn't believe."

"How much of Alastor's Special Brew did you have, exactly?" he asked, a bit worried of the precocious hangover symptoms she seemed to suffer.

"Dunno," she moaned. "Would it be humanly possible if it was three?"

"Three what?"

"Glasses."

"Good gracious!" he removed her hands from her face and scrutinised her closely, seriously concerned. "Don't you feel sick?"

Tonks, paler than ususal, hid again her face beneath her hands and shook her head no.

"Is it that serious?"

Remus raised a brow very eloquently.

"I am actually surprised you can sit straight or even have a normal conversation."

A low laugh came from Tonks' lips through her fingers.

"As if we ever had any conversation that could be classified as _normal_."

"Didn't we?"

Tonks let her hand down and sneered.

"Remus, the first time we met we ended up speaking about boobs, because I'd tripped into the carpet on the stairs and fallen upon you with all my glorious equipment pressed onto your face." She said sarcastically, counting on her fingers. "Not very long after, we spent a whole patrol shift discussing questionably decorous subjects such as Snape's tastes in women, then, about a month ago, we had that interesting debate on how to prepare a good cheesecake without cheese." She jiggled her head, biting at her smirking lips, as if the mere memory amused her. "Then again, last week we argued about who of us was the best at dealing with a Boggart, and I so won that one…"

Remus could vividly remember her concentrated face as she had turned the poor Dark-Mark-like Boggart into a chamber-pot.

"No doubt on that." he agreed with a sly grin.

"And only yesterday," Tonks went on. "When I stumbled and literally fell at your feet," She met his eyes, and he returned her defiant look, anticipating the point she was going to touch on. "You said I was quite easy to _get laid_."

Remus gave a hearty laugh, arms crossed over his chest.

"I largely apologised, after that one." He precised, well aware his tone didn't sound apologetic as it theorically should have.

"Yeah," Tonks watched him through the candlelight. "But still, since then I can't lie down without thinking of you."

A heavy silence fell upon them, and this time Remus could see she was blushing.

"I didn't mean… I mean, I was referring to… Y' know…"

Not even remotely squabbled as she seemed to be, however, Remus couldn't just help the thought there was no such adorable thing as Tonks looking so genuinely embarrassed.

"I shall spare you finding out what I think about whenever somebody falls from the stairs straight into my arms." He said. Tonks looked up, blinking.

"Does it happen very often?" she asked hopefully, and - to Remus' wicked pleasure - with a certain amount of ingenuity. He shrugged casually and shot her a snigger.

"Only when you and your equipment are round."

According the brightness of Tonks's grin (halfway between shy and flattered), Remus became of the opinion the candles had become trivial, since she could have lit up the whole room just by keeping grinning on. Necessary condition for it was to keep on the teasing, as well, and, at least for now, Remus was all willing to help.

* * *

TBC 


	2. h 3,00 am: The Flirting

_h 3.00 a.m. – The Flirting _

"It's your bloody Marauder blood making you speak like this, isn't it?"

Tonks gulped a glass of painkiller potion Remus had prepared her (renouncing to his herbal tea), and laid it down, inviting him to fill it up again.

"I think you've had enough of this." He objected, pushing the pot aside. "If you drink some more, I'll have to rename it Tonks-killer."

"But I need more." She tried to reach out for the steamy pot, but Remus refused to let her take it. "Have you ever been told that you're really boring at times?" she groaned, failing her last attempt to get the pot.

"A couple of times." He confessed quietly. "But never by my own pink-haired nemesis."

She pouted in her best prima donna attitude and gave him an insolent glare.

"What's with my hair?" she barked. "You always make observations about my hair. I can't understand if it's 'cause you like it or all the contrary."

Remus studied his nails displaying a big interest in them. Toying with her patience was cruel, but just fun, and even if he knew she would payback, he really couldn't resist.

"I just think it's a bit… You know," he glanced unsurely at her spiky head. "A bit unfeminine, maybe…"

Although the light was very dim, he could distinctly see the tips of her hair turning a fiery hue of red; he hoped, on the other hand, that she couldn't see he was trying not to jeer.

"A bit… A bit unfeminine?" Tonks stuttered, her hoarse voice seemingly struck down in her throat.

She sounded dismayed – even hurt, perhaps – and for a split second Remus wondered if he hadn't exaggerated. After all, he would be offended if she would accuse him of looking unmanly.

He had never had the impression she cared much about her looks (which made a lot of sense to him, because she was pretty enough to afford it), and he hadn't expected such an emotional reaction. Besides he thought he'd caught a glimpse of glossiness in her eyes.

Had he really brought Nymphadora Tonks on the edge of tears?

He watched her take a hand to her mouth and emit what sounded horribly like a sob. He couldn't see her face, because her hair hid it, but her shoulders were definitely shaking.

"Look, I… I was just kidding, Tonks…"

Her shoulders trembled more visibly, but when she finally looked up, he realised that she wasn't crying. Tears did fill her eyes, in fact, but only because she was struggling to keep herself from bursting out laughing.

"I can't believe you bought it." she taunted, and the pink in her hair had never been so vivid. She had to take a few deep breaths to steady herself. "But you so deserved it."

"Yes, I really did." He agreed, and found himself nicely infected by her laugh. "But it's not like I was very believable, was I?"

"I have to concede I was scared, for a moment…"

"It's never been a mystery that I like your hair." He told her earnestly, feeling he owed it to her. "Of course, there are other and possibly more remarkable things in you, but your hair is just," He shrugged. "Fine."

Tonks nodded, smiling as her eyes faded from dark brown to ice blue.

"I wonder what could be more remarkable than pink hair to a man like you." She wondered.

"Your eyes are just amazing." He said, staring into them, and he had never been more sincere in his life. "The way they are now, I mean, not because they change every now and then. Your _true_ eyes."

"I need to remember to change them before we're out in the field, then," she said, feigning a serious tone. "Wouldn't want you to be distracted because you're admiring them too insistently."

Perfect consciousness that she was kidding did not keep Remus from feeling hot round his ears.

"I didn't dare ask you, but thanks, you don't know what it means to me." he quipped, and grabbed his wand to summon a jug and couple of clean glasses from the cupboard.

"I didn't think of you as the flattering type, Remus." She said, while fresh water spilled from the tip of his wand to well into the jug.

He didn't look at her. He just smiled and filled the glasses.

"How indecent of an old werewolf…"

Tonks rolled her eyes and grabbed her glass so brusquely that she tipped half of the water.

"Shut up, you're not old!"

"But I do look like I am." He insisted.

"You don't."

"I do."

"You don't."

"I do."

"You don't."

"I do."

"You don't fancy me."

"I do."

There was a moment of awkward silence, during which Remus stared at her in daze with his jaw dropped, then his whole face fell as he – too late – realised her trick. She narrowed her eyes with a very self-satisfied smirk, her hands joined under her chin, leaning forward over the table.

"Well, well, well…"

Remus shook his head incredulously, nibbling at his bottom lip.

"I… Cannot believe I fell for that." he murmured, but he knew she could see his eyes glistening surreptitiously.

Sporting the clear and unmistakable expression of someone who was far too aware of the situation, Tonks grinned mischievously.

"Or for me?"

Remus was not sure if it was normal he was feeling his back pressed onto a wall, if the closest one stood at least three metres behind him.

"Let's not make a big deal out of it, Nymph-"

With a promptness he wouldn't have expected, she took her wand from somewhere Remus didn't have the time to discern and pointed it at his throat threateningly.

"Dare say that," she warned him. "And you'll wish you never met me."

He gave her a half smile.

"What if I already do?" he retorted, half jokingly, half seriously. Tonks snorted and withdrew her wand.

"And you think I'd believe this after you admitted you're crazy for me? Nice try, but no way."

"Crazy for..." He could distinclty feel his cheeks flush. "You made me say what you wanted to hear!"

He knew it wasn't exactly the truth, but she didn't need to find out, especially because she already seemed self-confident enough, for his tastes.

Maybe, after all, he'd let slip a little too much.

"And you didn't even try to deny it." she pointed out, matter-of-factly.

Remus sighed, and yet couldn't seem to brush that grin his lips bore away.

"This admitted but not conceded," he stated carefully. "I might still regret having met you."

"Why would you?" Tonks asked in genuine astonishment, as if he'd just told her he wanted to marry Buckbeak. "Everyone says I'm such a lovable girl…"

"Perhaps this is the problem," he continued slowly, never dropping that barely hinted smile as his eyes refused to rise upon her. "Perhaps you're so lovable that you compromised the plans…"

Tonks blinked blankly. Very lovable, indeed, Remus thought.

"What plans?"

"The altogether hypothetical fact that I might fancy you, doesn't imply that I wanted to."

"Ah." She pursed her lips, apparently pondering the question. "So I hypothetically _made_ you fancy me?"

"Give or take some circumstantial and totally unwilling condescendence from me," Remus adjusted the jug next to his glass, feeling vaguely uncomfortable. "Basically you did."

He couldn't believe he was blaming her. And what was he blaming her for, by the way? For being a brilliant – sweet, funny, beautiful – witch with a heart-melting problem with clumsiness?

"I made you fancy me." she repeated, furrowing her brows at him. Girly flirtation shone through her gaze.

"Yes."

"_Made you_ as in 'I made you eat mud'?"

"Yes." He confirmed one more time.

"_Hypothetically_." She remarked, a small grin stretching her soft lips. Remus grinned in return.

"Of course."

"Charming hypothesis."

Her smile was gentle, and yet that shade of unhidden sultriness made it irresistible, hypnotising, and he honestly wasn't sure the attraction he felt toward her was not due to some kind of magic. He felt goose bumps rising all over the upper part of his body, and another quite pleasing sensation in the lower.

He swept certain thoughts away with the same celerity and worriment he would have used to chase away a Dementor and quickly prompted a bold face.

"Thank you."

Thoroughly oblivious to his inner turmoil – or more probably uncaring – Tonks bent further toward him to stop a scarce inch from his face. A girlish gleam of mischief flashed in her eyes as he fixed her, swallowing hard, bewitched by her tantalising closeness, wondering why, all of a sudden, the room felt so unbearably small and hot.

Caressed by the golden glow of the candles, Tonks licked her lips and smiled in a way that had nothing to do with girlishness.

Sexy. It was sheer – and _very feminine_ – sensuality.

"And in this big net of hypothetical suppositions," she inquired huskily, occasionally glancing down at his lips. "What would hypothetically happen if I hypothetically fancied you back?"

* * *

TBC

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading, you must be very brave or very sick if you've been able to read till here. Whoever leaves a review gets a kiss from either of our two lovebrids (even both, if you want!). Reviews make me, Remus and Tonks very happy and eager to come back soon. ; ) 


	3. h 4,00 am: The Kissing

_h 4.00 a.m. – The Kissing _

"You fancy whipped cream as well, as a matter of fact."

"And how do you expect me to snog a cup of whipped cream, exactly?"

Remus eyed her playfully, sipping some water just to convey to her how utterly uninterested he was. Little did she know, however, it was a lie of gigantic proportions. Or maybe she actually did, but he preferred not to know.

"Shall we add it to our anomalous conversations list?" he suggested in complete nonchalance. "How to snog whipped cream?"

Tonks giggled. It was incredible how easily she could switch from sexiness to childishness so naturally and still look irresistible.

"That would be interesting." She replied. "But I can tell you by personal experience that it's way more entertaining and enjoyable to snog a cool bloke _and_ whipped cream at the same time."

Remus sceptically looked round the room.

"Cool bloke? Where's he?"

"Probably hidden behind his distant mask, Remus."

This remark caught him off guard. Despite the light tones of the chat, little by little Tonks was showing him how dreadfully _much_ she had figured out about him. It was a bit scary.

She was the first, after Sirius.

"I like to think my shabby, melancholic looks give me some fascinating aura of mystery."

"You got it right."

Remus lifted a brow at her sassy stare. Cubbish and innocent as she might look habitually, he was learning day by day that however hard he tried to see her as the kid he had known in first place, little Nymphadora was in fact _not_ a kid, but rather a young woman endowed every womanly grace and accomplishment.

"I'll try not to make it a habit to receive all these compliments, otherwise it'll go straight to my head."

Tonks erupted into a sarcastic gibe.

"As if, Remus!" she scoffed. "C'mon, you're the last person in this world who could ever trust someone's compliments."

"But I do trust _you_." He stated.

She hesitated for a moment, apparently taken aback as much as he was. He had to admit it was rather rare of him to surprise himself, especially with such peculiar slips of unhealthy sincerity.

"I trust you, too." Tonks muttered. Every hint of defiance had vanished from her voice, which had turned quiet and soothed, almost solemn.

Her eyes now were the limpidest azure he'd ever seen and her skin looked like soft porcelain. Perhaps it was the approaching full moon awakening his most primordial instincts, engulfing him to irrational thoughts, but she looked absurdly _appetising_.

"I'll get some more water." He said fretfully, and immediately stood up, eager to put some distance between himself and her suggestive lips.

"I'll do this." She intervened.

"Leave it alone. You'd better stay-"

But Tonks ignored him and hauled herself up to stop him, but in the attempt her foot got struck between the chair and the table leg. Unable to keep her balance, she gasped and landed upon him.

Remus dropped the jug to catch her just in time. The crashing sound of the glass did not, however, cover Tonks' loud cursing as she grasped at his arms to steady herself. A muffled laugh shook Remus' chest, who was sustaining her in pure amusement.

"Blame it on Alastor's Firewhisky, now." He teased her, his face and hers divided but nothing more than a thin veil of air. An itchy heat rose from his neck to his whole head.

"I blame it on you." She muttered, and her eyes inevitably fell again on his close smiling mouth. "You should stop making me fall."

There was such spontaneous sweetness in the double meaning of the sentence, and such a dense dazing haze forming in his mind, that Remus simply couldn't resist. He didn't know which of her many unaware – yet so blatant – provocations made him do it, but he finally stopped fighting a long lost battle against his sensibility and gave in to his reasonless side.

Her lips felt soft, warm, nicely tender against his own. His brain turned off when he felt her fingers skim his jawline as, after an instant of stupor, she started responding to his kiss.

Washed by a violent storm of contrasting feelings, Remus breathed her like oxygen, as though all his vital functions would cease in the very moment they would depart. He had always told himself it would have been unforgivable of him to permit her to break into his heart, and even after failing that purpose, he hadn't stopped thinking it would have been extremely wrong to even dare touch her. Nevertheless, right here and right now, with Tonks' lips brushing upon his and her hands in his hair, he couldn't even remember his own name, nor where he was, nor why. All he could think was that nothing in his life had ever felt just so damn _right_.

When they pulled apart – whether after seconds, minutes or hours, Remus couldn't tell – Tonks bore an unreadable expression.

"Did… Did you just do what I think you did?"

Remus watched the shock twinkle in her eyes, mixed to what could only be very badly dissembled enticement. Considered all the options, he came to the conclusion that playing dumb was the best choice, so he tilted his head (which was starting feeling a little groggy) and blinked candidly in her direction.

"What?"

"You kissed me!"

"Oh, _that_, yeah." He casually leant back on his palms. "I have to admit I was counting on your impressive levels of drunkenness in the hope I would get away with it, but," He let the corners of his lips curl up slightly. "I, indeed, kissed you." A wicked smirk spread across his face. "And you, indeed, kissed me back."

She seemed stoned by his absolute lack of denial attempts – which, incidentally, was the very effect Remus has intended to get.

"You are a git, Remus Lupin." she said. "You really, really are."

He lifted a brow, sitting back on the table, arms crossed.

"I believe it was you who _pretended_ to trip into your own feet only to fall into my arms with a – forgive the irony – breath-taking precision."

Tonks' cheeks turned a peculiar, bright tint of pink, which matched delightfully with her hair.

"I did _not_ pretend!" she retorted, although a light vibe in her voice suggested Remus it was all another story. He took his chin between his fingers and nodded thoughtfully. Teasing Tonks was a pleasure, especially when she couldn't quite discern between seriousness and humorousness.

"On the other hand," he said, taking his glass of water into his hand. "I am fairly sure I had vividly tried to dissuade you from standing up so quickly, given the amount of alcohol in your system."

"What do you know about the alcohol in my system?"

"Your hair shifts colours when you pass the limit." He explained, casting an eloquent glaze at her violet-streaked pink head.

"That's… That's not true." She bubbled, but in the same moment several strands of her hair turned deep blue.

"Oh, yes, it is." He insisted, his cattish tone testing her patience and temper. "And you also get some sort of permanent blush on your cheeks, and you keep moistening your lips, and…"

"Remus…"

"Your balance loses stability – as we have had the pleasure to ascertain – and your voice gets husky…"

"Remus, please…"

"I think I've seen you drunk only once or twice, not counting now, but I'm pretty sure it's like this every time…"

"Bloody hell, I got it!" she yelled, so loudly that Remus was afraid she had waken the whole house, but he just took his half empty glass from behind him and ignored her.

"And you do that cute thing with your teeth, sucking your bottom lip in and-"

"Snape got me pregnant."

The water he was sipping ended up in his lungs and he started coughing furiously, receiving a well deserved triumphant chuckle from Tonks.

"Sorry, this was heavy," she apologised, but her tone sounded anything but sorry. "I had to stop you, somehow."

Still engaged in his fight against dry drowning, Remus pierced her with a glare. When he finally managed to regain a regular breath, he glowered at her massaging his throat with his fingers. If on one hand his mind was rationally conscious she would rather sleep with Voldemort than with Snape, the stroke had all the same been fairly strong.

"You'll be pleased to know it worked." He announced throatily. "With my heart, in particular."

Tonks jumped sitting on the counter, literally purring in self-satisfaction.

"Is it a tiny whiny bit of jealousy I am detecting?" she cooed, two sly curls tickling at the corners of her lips.

Remus recomposed himself and absentmindedly fiddled with the fragments of the jug with his foot.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." he said enigmatically. Tonks made a face and snorted.

"Diplomacy's not exactly the best way into a woman's panties, y' know?"

"What makes you think I want to get into your panties?"

"You nearly choked on your own tongue when I mentioned Snape getting me-"

Remus held a hand up to silence her.

"Save it, please." He begged. "One trauma a day is enough, I reckon."

There was a brief pause, in which his eyes roamed up and down her, studying every inch of her body. She probably noticed, because her eyelids lowered and she looked at him almost challengingly.

"Confessing, Lupin?"

"Dream on, _Nymphadora_." He repaired the broken jug with a silent spell and flew it into the sink, then sent her a lopsided grin. "Weird Conversation Number Six: how to get a man's attention by causing him a breathing crisis."

Tonks abandoned every composure and tittered gingerly.

"That's sheer genius, man. Besides, if you ever needed a mouth-to-mouth, I'm very good at it."

"Make sure I have passed out, before."

Tonks blinked confused.

"What?"

Remus sneered wickedly with a light shrug.

"Were I conscious in the process, I'm afraid you'd soon find yourself reconsidering the subject in that 'Snape got me pregnant'."

Tonks lips opened a little, just enough for him to catch a glimpse of her white front teeth.

"Are you deliberately tempting me?" she asked, oozing malice from every syllable. Intrigued and dismayed at the same time by her unexpected audaciousness, Remus displayed his best roguish smile while his fingers tapped onto the table.

"Maybe." He reclined his head to one side. "And maybe we should do something to ease all this sexual tension, don't you think?"

Tonks mirrored his gesture, smirking. She looked like a cat that had just caught her mouse.

"I might have an idea…"

* * *

TBC

* * *

Tonks – er – _Thanks_ for reading so far! Reviews are very welcome and will surely boost my will to continue this story, especially now that I have read the last book and need emotional support. Keep my spirits up, guys, I need it. 


	4. h 5,00 am: The Cooking

_h 5.00 a.m. – The Cooking _

"Are you absolutely sure you know how to make pancakes, Tonks?" Remus inquired dubiously as he peered into the bowl in which she was stirring what looked dreadfully like thick glue.

Tonks removed a lock of hair from her forehead with the back of her hand and nodded firmly.

"Positive," she assured him. "It's just that this flour is really, really hard to amalgamate."

He said nothing, but he was still not entirely convinced that anything even remotely similar to pancakes would ever come out of that sticky batter.

"Hey, could you please tie my hair back?" she asked, after the third time she'd brushed her hair away from her face. Remus tugged delicately at one of her spikes.

"And I will do this how?"

"I'll grow it, you genius."

He watched her screw her eyes and concentrate, and in a couple of seconds her messy hair straightened down in a shiny bubble-pink cascade along her back.

"Here you go." She said, keeping stirring with energy. "I must have a hair band in the back pocket of my shorts."

She rolled her eyes when she met his meaningful look, but Remus opted not to reply. He instead approached her in silence and slowly ran his fingers up her hip to sink his hand in the pocket of the light-fabric shorts, where he found the hair band. He didn't miss her shiver when he slid it out, nor he missed her smile when he started collecting her hair into a low tail and tied it loosely. When he eventually stepped behind, she had light goose bumps all over her shoulders and arms.

"That was so very mean of you, professor Lupin." She commented, and though all he could see was her back (which, by the way, did not exactly bother him) he knew she was gloating.

"I'm a Marauder, remember? You can't expect me to play the good boy all the time." He positioned himself beside her and watched her hands work the hopeless batter with a wooden spoon. "Just because I used to be the only one with some reasonableness, doesn't mean I can't be…"

"Horny?"

"Do you young people always have only _that_ in mind?" he breathed on her bare neck, and her skin crawled again.

"Only when you and your equipment are around." She answered in her best tongue in cheek tone.

"That was copyrighted, you know?" Remus informed her, stepping a little bit closer, so that his mouth could mutter in her ear. "You can't steal my witty quips to use them against me."

He didn't know if the banter they had started at the beginning was still going on, because the tones had become very different, now. He knew it was not entirely Tonks acting that way, because he well remembered the effects that even the slightest excess of Alastor's Firewhisky Special Brew could have. In spite of this, there was a part of him that recognised a discrete amount awareness in her actions, and he was kind of absolute that she knew very well what she was saying or doing. This, above anything else, made him wonder if things hadn't gone too far. Still, although the very weak sapient voice coming from his brain told him to put some distance (both physical and emotional) between himself and her as soon as possible, before the inevitable could happen, his heart felt the deep, untamable desire to stay in her company, because there was something in this incredible young woman that made him feel alive like he hadn't felt in years.

"Fair enough." She acquiesced in amused annoyance. Remus was bolted back to reality. "But don't say 'you young people' as if you were one hundred years old, 'cause thirty five is _not_ old at all."

"I am."

"Are not."

"We're not stating this again, are we?"

"Will you admit you're not old?"

"Nope."

Tonks turned round and folded her arms over her chest, still holding the caked spoon in her hand.

"Then," she stated severely. "We're starting this again."

Remus arched his eyebrows, hoping this wouldn't sound too much like a spineless imploration. He really didn't feel like arguing trivialities with her, not now he was having so much fun, at least.

"I thought we'd be making breakfast, actually…"

Tonks cast an eloquent look at the bowl on the counter.

"I want to hope _that thing_ doesn't look like breakfast to you."

"Isn't that concrete for the Weasleys' yard?"

"Shut up!" she exclaimed, but her effort to sound indignant soon vanished into a deep laughter that she unsuccessfully tried to stifle.

She was a joy for his eyes, her vitality was contagious.

"Leave this up to me, Tonks dear." He said, in a perfect imitation of Molly, and took the spoon from her hand.

"Didn't know you were a superlative cook." She said, apparently pleasantly surprised.

"Am not." He replied, placing the spoon into the bowl, then turned to face her with a wink. "But I can make excellent pancakes the good, old way."

Tonks propped back to the counter and pouted at him as he started waving his wand to enchant the bowl and the spoon to prepare a new batter on their own.

"Any chance you'll snog me senseless – whipped cream or not – by the time the whole house is up?"

Remus barely moved his head to look at her with a gentle smile.

"Are you still convinced that I want to get into your panties?" he questioned, as if asking about the weather.

"After WCNS, I was under the impression you were quite anxious to do that."

"WCNS?"

"Weird Conversation Number Six."

"Ah, I see." He nodded solemnly. "I am a bit disappointed, I admit, that you consider me such an unmannered man."

Tonks' hands went up to undo her tail. A mane of long, purple hair scattered on her back.

"Actually," she interjected. "I happen to consider you a sadly _excessively_ mannered bloke, Remus."

There was no taint of sarcasm in her voice, she was serious

"Since when have courtesy and chivalry become signs of bad manners?"

"Since, because of your stupid nobleness, you can't admit you want to snog me, and get into my pants, and take advantage of my easiness in getting laid."

A sneer tugged at Remus' lips.

"I don't remember myself denying any of this." He declared. Warm golden sparkles appeared in Tonks' eyes, but he had not finished. "Nonetheless," he added. "I, by no mean, am intentioned to give you the satisfaction of hearing me confirm this, either."

The mouse had broken free from the cat's paws, but it was weird how eagerly, in truth, he wished to return in them.

Tonks tutted disapprovingly.

"You have no idea of how disgustingly boring and overcautious you can get, I swear, Remus."

"Another very spot on description, Nymphadora." She winced at her name, but didn't open her mouth. Remus went on undisturbed. "Though I think I liked the git one better… What was that, again?"

"A naughty, evil, bloody git." She uttered, grinning despite herself. An intense warmth spread one more time inside Remus's chest, a warmth that had nothing to do with the two glasses of scotch he'd drunk. It was a kind of warmth he hadn't got from a person in a very long time.

"For what it's worth, anyway," she added with a sudden shyness. "I really like naughty, evil, bloody gits."

Remus felt profoundly grateful to her, in that moment, for no particular reason except the fact that she was just _there_.

When had he become so fond of her? When had mere affinity turned into this powerful emotion? And why – and _how_, on earth – had he possibly missed such a remarkable change in his feelings?

He refused to analyse the situation any further, afraid of what he might discover.

"I feel very lucky for being a naughty, evil, bloody git, all of a sudden." He commented. He took his wand anew and pointed it at the table, where the candles were still burning luminously, then turned back to Tonks. "We were up for breakfast, if I remember well…"

She gazed at the window, beyond which a pink and purple shaded dawn was rising over the hills, on the horizon.

"Unleash all your considerable talent, Mr Lupin, 'cause I have the feeling we're not going to be alone for long."

A nice tingle fluttered in his stomach as his ears perceived an unmistakable hint of frustration in her words. He made sure to carve that feeling clearly in his mind, then directed the wand to the table and a brief flash of yellowish light lit up the whole room. When it was gone, the table was laid for a princely breakfast.

"We'd better go upstairs and get changed before sitting down, perhaps." He suggested. "You don't look exactly fresh and restored as you usually do after a good night of sound sleep, and I have the sensation I don't look great myself, either."

"We have good excuses," she said, shrugging listlessly. "I was drunk and you were haunted by insomnia… We needed a distraction to spend the night away."

Remus stopped next to her before passing her by and bent toward her ear.

"Make sure to put it differently, when Sirius will question about it," he whispered maliciously. "Because he has one single concept of 'distraction to spend the night away', and I assure you nothing we've done is involved." He left her by the counter and went to the door, and there he stopped again to glance behind with a half sneer before disappearing beyond the door. "Well… _Almost_ nothing."

* * *

TBC

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**A/N:** Thanks everybody for the awesome feedback! Keep it coming, because next chapter's the last, and I need to keep my spirits up... I have a few nices ideas, already. Little clue: Naughty!Sirius, of course!


	5. h 6,00 am: The Beginning

_h 6.00 a.m. – The Beginning _

Remus walked out of his room in number twelve, Grimmauld Place, his hair still damp after a refreshing shower. On his way to the stairs, he crossed paths with none other than Tonks, wrapped up in her violet silk bathrobe (which, incidentally, left long, delicious inches of her tonic legs heavenly bare). Her hair, as well, now short again, was vaguely damp and lay lank above her shoulders.

"Wotcher." She saluted him, then yawned widely, her hand placed in front of her mouth.

"Good morning again, Nymphadora."

She shot him a fierce glare, following him down the stairs. By the noises and voices coming from the kitchen, Remus could tell at least Molly and Arthur were already up.

"Dare call me that again, and I'll neuter you." She threatened, but Remus grinned.

"And how will I manage to take advantage of your easiness in getting laid, if you do that?"

Tonks scrutinised him from a couple of steps above and smirked.

"You've got a point."

When they entered the kitchen they found, as Remus had expected, the Weasleys. Molly barely gave them the time to greet before offering them some coffee.

"That would be awesome, Molly, thanks." Remus said.

"Make mine a double, please." Tonks added.

Molly's look shifted back and forth from him to her for a short while, then, not saying a word, she turned to the cooker to make the coffee.

Arthur, sitting at the other side of the table, was quietly reading the Daily Prophet while nibbling at a toast. He rose his eyes from the newspaper only for one moment, to give them a polite hint of his head.

"Good morning, you both." He said. "You look quite tired, Remus." He added concernedly, and Tonks readily looked away, so that Arthur missed to notice she was at least as tired-looking as Remus himself.

"I had an odd dream: a mysterious witch sneaked up on me in a dark room and started nagging me about things of any sort… She kept me up all night." Remus quipped viciously. By his side, Tonks planted her hands on her hips.

"I think it's a bit subjective to determine who kept up who, given the circumstances."

Remus simply gave her a smile.

In that moment Sirius walked in, stretching out his arms with a theatrical yawn.

"'Morning, Sirius." Remus and Tonks said together.

"'Morning."

Sirius was almost going to pass them by and ignore them, when, all of a sudden, he came to a halt and turned behind to scrutinise them suspiciously for long instants. Tonks' broad smile faltered slightly.

"You two," He approached them, pointing a finger, and addressed them a wide, snide chuckle. "Had sex."

The crashing of the tray full of cups Molly was carrying to the table merged with Arthur's convulsive attack of coughing as he patted vigorously the middle of his chest, vaguely cyanotic in the face.

"We did nothing like that, Sirius." Remus muttered through his clenched teeth, trying to stifle back the redness he felt burning all over his face, but Sirius's chuckle became even more wicked.

"Yeah, as if." He glanced sideways at Tonks and studied her rigid pose, then returned to look at Remus. "You both look wasted, and have dark shades under your eyes… And your downright blissful expressions speak volumes, guys."

"Sirius," Tonks soothed, stepping ahead with a forced smile. "We didn't have sex or anything of that kind."

She exchanged a quick, unsure look with Remus, and he knew Sirius would know just perfectly how to interpret it.

"Oh, yeah, of course." Sirius sniggered. "And I am a Pigmy Puff."

"For Merlin's beard, Sirius!" Molly scolded him, very red in her cheeks, as she blindly cast a cleaning spell on the shattered cups on the floor. "The children may come in any moment! Besides," she paused briefly, seemingly embarrassed. "They didn't – didn't _do that_."

She gazed at Remus and Tonks, not looking very trusty herself. Remus saw Tonks' features mutate into a guilty face. He couldn't blame her; he knew his own face didn't look very different.

"This is none of our business, anyway." Molly continued dismissively, evidently eager to put an end to the whole debate.

"You're not going to get away with this." Sirius muttered to them. "My best friend and my little coz… Who would've imagined?"

"Oh, please…"

Remus shouldered Sirius aside and, grabbing Tonks' hand, hastily led her to the table, leaving his friend frozen in the middle of the kitchen.

"Since when he's been so intuitive?" whispered Tonks, helping herself with pancakes and putting some into Remus' plate.

"Are you kidding me?" Remus squeezed chocolate syrup on top of his pile of pancakes. "The day I got my first kiss he nearly found out before me."

Tonks choked laughing on her orange juice. In the same moment Sirius slumped down in his chair.

"I solemnly swear I'm up to no evil," he anticipated defensively, intercepting Remus' warning eye. He studied the two of them, this time looking serious. "So, you… Didn't have sex."

"For the last time," Remus sighed impatiently. "No, we didn't."

"Have mercy, Sirius," Tonks moaned, rubbing her eyes. "I haven't slept a wink tonight."

Sirius' brows furrowed at once.

"If I may ask –"

"No, you can't." Remus cut him in, but Sirius did as if nothing had happened.

"Why do you both look all sleepy and content if there was no darn sex?"

Remus knew Sirius well enough to predict the upcoming conversation, and it was anything but a promising prediction. Sirius insistent curiosity, however, was very hard to stand, and in the end Tonks gave up.

"We've been talking."

Sirius regarded her in utter disbelief.

"Please, say it aint's so." Not receiving a reply from her, he turned to Remus, almost pleading him with his eyes. "Moony?"

In a barely audible whisper, Remus sighed and confirmed what had already been stated.

"We talked."

"Talked!" Sirius cried, slamming a hand over his face, almost aggrieved. "You _talked_!"

Remus and Tonks blinked uncomfortably at each other.

"Look, this is insane!" said Sirius feverishly. "I expected this from _him_, but you!" he moved his attention on Tonks. "You are a hot, active chick… I am so disappointed!"

"Here is the coffee." Molly intervened, her voice volume unnaturally raised. She placed three steamy cups in front of the three of them, and a wonderful aroma wafted to Remus' nostrils.

Once she was back to the sink, Sirius continued his lecture.

"No bloody sex."

Tonks grunted.

"Nope."

"Nor preliminaries."

"Nope."

"You didn't even shag a little bit?"

Remus shook his head.

"Snog?"

"No."

"Smooch?"

This time neither spoke. Remus ducked his head in his cup, and Tonks cut a big piece from her pancakes, quickly stuffing it into her mouth.

Sirius leant forward across the table, intrigued.

"Ah!" He put on an inquisitive sneer. "So you did have some fun, after all."

On the opposite side of the table, Arthur gave a discreet cough. Molly was serving him some bacon. Sirius lowered his voice.

"C'mon," His eyes glistened. "Out with it, right now!"

Remus lifted a brow in Tonks's direction. He had enjoyed the white night spent with her, nad he was sure she had, too, but there were a few details Sirius could live without.

"I don't think we'll be telling you, Padfoot." He took the cup to his mouth and smiled softly. "Right, Tonks?"

"Right, Remus." She grinned meanly at her cousin. "In fact, Sirius, your fervid fantasy will certainly give a number of suggestions to contemplate, so… Have fun, coz."

She stood on her feet, pancake plate and orange juice in her hands, and headed out of the room.

"What are you doing?" Sirius stared blankly as Remus and grabbed his stuff and stood up. "What did I say?"

"Some people like privacy, Sirius." He said in his kindest tone, then winked and followed Tonks.

He found her sitting on the lowest step of the stairs, chewing her pancakes in all tranquillity, bathed by the dusty light coming through the hall.

As soon as she sensed his presence, she looked up at him and smiled widely, her cheeks full. The butterflies in Remus' stomach were back, more effervescent and pleasurable than ever.

"He can be such a snoop, sometimes."

"Black genes." She said, shifting on the step to make some room for him. "My Mum is exactly like him."

Remus was more than happy to join her. He sat down; the step was barely large enough to host the two of them and their elbows kept touching whenever one or both of them cut down a piece of pancake.

"You seem to have inherited something from the Blacks, all in all." He observed.

"Are you accusing me of being an insufferable snoop?"

"I would rather say a nice, curious girl."

Tonks stopped eating and tilted her head to eye him lopsidedly.

"Are you hitting on me, Professor?"

He took his time to chew and gulp his bit.

Was he hitting on her? No, of course not.

He wasn't hitting on her, and Sirius was definitely a Pigmy Puff.

"Do I look like somebody who goes around dispensing compliments to every girl I meet?"

At this, Tonks' cheery mood faded visibly.

"You don't do that, do you?"

Remus laughed low in his chest, feeling he loved her in every single bit, in every note of her silky voice, in every shade of her hair, in every cute sparkle in her eyes. He loved her in every way she could fall and stand up again with a sheepish and embarassed grin.

Above all, he loved her for the mere reason she was simply too easy to love.

He locked his eyes in hers and shook his head no.

"No, I don't." he reassured her, then lowered his voice and added, "It's only with you."

Tonks beamed, as though he'd just given her the present she'd most wished all her life long, and went back to her breakfast. Her hair, Remus noticed, shone in a lightly brighter pink.

They were very at ease, maybe too much, considered what had happened not long before. Remus wondered if that half unconscious kiss had marked her as deeply as it had him.

"How the heck are we going to stay awake during the patrol?" she asked, yawning.

He didn't answer at once. He emptied his coffee and wiped his mouth with a towel, then finally conceded her a simper.

"Why, I think we can arrange something… We still have to go through WCNS the Second."

"Weird Conversation Number Seven?" she asked, scowling disorientated.

"Yes." Remus nodded. "The whipped cream snogging thing aroused my interest."

Tonks pinned her last bite of pancake with her fork and ate it.

"I was so right." she gurgled, her mouth full.

"About what?"

"About you, my dear." She smirked. "You're truly a naughty git."

Remus cut half of his last pancake and put in into her empty plate.

"Not evil and bloody?"

She observed the two halves of the pancake for a while, not opening her mouth. Remus realised he had done something way more significant than split the last bit of his breakfast and share it with her, and she seemed to know.

"No, not bloody, nor evil." She said sweetly. She hesitated one moment, then lifted her face on him with a chuckle. "But definitely naughty."

"Said the witch who attempted to seduce the poor, guiltless wizard."

Tonks giggled.

"Did it work?"

Remus' eyebrows arched questioningly.

"What?"

"The work of seduction."

"Oh." Remus was enjoying himself pretty much, and the merit was all hers. "I'll tell you when we try the whipped cream."

Tonks let out a graceful laugh and jokingly poked him in his ribs.

Without another word, they looked down at their two slices, turned to each other and silently decided they wouldn't touch them.

They just looked nice, lying on a juicy bed of dark chocolate; two perfectly complementary parts that, even separated, inevitably belonged to each other.

* * *

THE END

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****

**A/N:** So here we are, the end (wipes tear). I hope you enjoyed this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'm also thinking about writing a sequel to this, not sure yet, but we'll see...

I want to thank you awseome folks for reading this and leaving all those awesome reviews... Keep 'em coming! ; )


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